Former President Leonel Fernández warned that any measure that the Dominican Government is going to take in relation to facing the crisis caused by the war between Iran and the United Statesshould not be to the detriment of the Dominican population.
After a meeting with the government commission headed by ministers José Ignacio Paliza (Presidency) and Eduardo “Yayo” Sanz Lovatón (Industry and Commerce), which lasted more than an hour, Fernández noted that “under any circumstances” The economic stability of the Dominican Republic must be protected.
“Under any circumstance we must defend the economic and democratic stability of the country and do everything that is beneficial for the Dominican people; whatever is harmful, obviously the People’s Force will express its disagreement, but everything that at this moment represents national cohesion and unity in the face of an external crisis, the People’s Force salutes it,” he expressed.
Fernández pointed out that any sacrifice that must be made to face the crisis, which has caused fuel prices to rise by more than 20 pesos in recent weeks, must come from the Executive Branch.
“We understand that when talking about sacrifice, these fundamentally must come from the Government; the Government has to convey to the population that it is willing to take certain measures, which from the opposition we sometimes see as unnecessary and which can affect the well-being of the Dominican people,” he argued.
In an attitude of dialogue
The former president pointed out that the commission of officials attended the meeting in an “attitude of dialogue” and that the meeting was more of a “fruitful exchange of ideas” and that no concrete plan was presented.
“Specific plans, I don’t think they came with that attitude, simply to exchange. The Government will actually have to prepare its plans and we will hear what those plans consist of, but today it was simply an exchange of opinions, an exchange of ideas and we were even open to the possibility that this could be done in the future again. So, the government has the commitment and obligation to present a plan to Dominican society and when it is done, we will also express our opinion on the matter,” Fernández said.
The former president indicated that his economic team is vigilant about the situation but that during this meeting they did not present a concrete plan either.
“We also expressed our apprehension that the world is experiencing a situation of uncertainty and that in the face of this it is essential that all actors in Dominican society always commit to maintaining peace and stability. That was the suggestion we made. Not to take any measure that could affect the Dominican people and that consequently unleashes popular anger,” he explained.
The Government does have a plan
For his part, Paliza pointed out that despite the accusations of former President Danilo Medina and several members of the business sector, the Government is implementing a plan to combat and mitigate the crisis.
“The Government has been executing a plan for more than a month and a half when the crisis broke out. We made it clear following the last council of ministers that we held and since then we have been doing things like, for example, subsidizing fuel with almost 10 billion pesos to date,” Paliza explained.
Minister Paliza considered the meeting as beneficial and reaffirmed the Government’s interest in maintaining an open dialogue with the different actors in national life in order to jointly face the challenges of the current international context and its effects on the Dominican Republic.
“This is a moment that requires national unity and understanding. In our country, regardless of our differences, there is space for dialogue and agreement, especially when the Dominican Republic needs it,” he said.
They do not seek confrontation
The Minister of the Presidency reaffirmed that the Government is not seeking any type of confrontation or seeking to “share responsibility” because they are clear about what their role is.
“This planning can always be enriched, it can always be nourished, it can always be improved and that is what we are doing today in this type of dialogue, socializing ideas and strengthening the plans that the government has to more usefully address a crisis in a very long time,” he exclaimed.
